Forgotten Times
by Strife Atreyu
Summary: Legends. Stories scattered through time...but have you ever wondered what stories might have been lost within those seconds? What could have been forgotten? Past wounds could heal but what if the scars never fade even through the continuance of eternity? Such a shame that some memories could never be forgotten...even by an immortal. Rated T for language and slight gore.


**Time walks forward, hand in hand with eternity. There is no rest, no lenience for the one who is cursed to follow till the end of either.**

**XxXxX**

Signal Academy.

A school that had been built to teach and uphold the skills and mindset of the long-honored role of Hunters and Huntresses. An establishment given the royal task of training the next generation of honorable men and women and teaching them the necessary skills that would later on help them to become great warriors able to cut through swarms of enemies with the greatest of ease. A facility that housed great minds and greater veterans in the art of combat, some of whom could take out small armies of monsters while at the same time taking the concept of 'jaw-dropping' and shoving a kilo of steroids up its backside.

It was awe-inspiring...it was brilliant...it was majestic...

...But as always with fickle minded beings such as humans, one could grow used to the sight of the ridiculously high towers and astounding majestic hallways if you spent everyday of the past six months cramped in the bloody building.

Which was why, thought Ruby as she justified herself, she had taken a little...excursion into the forest. Really, Uncle Qrow really had to give her some breathing room sometimes. It was always training this and training that with the man...and seriously, she was a girl. She needed some time to herself! So gathering up some of her pre-teen rebellion tendencies, along with a good deal of assurance from her ability to survive falling from rather ridiculous levels of height without breaking a limb or two in the process, she had thrown open a window and simultaneously jumped out...right into the storm that was currently making its way through the country.

In hindsight, she supposed she should have looked before she jumped considering her lapse in judgement had led to her falling into a pit of mud that had thankfully left her physical state unharmed...though her pride...well, it was a different matter entirely.

So here she was. Dripping wet with mud, getting soaked with rainwater and just overall having a bad day. To make matters worse she had made a rather forceful leap and thanks to the height advantage, she had landed at a distance away from the school. It wasn't far, per say, but the downpour made moving dangerous, especially considering that while she was very sturdy for a fourteen year old girl, she certainly couldn't shrug off being hit by lightning and feeling a thousand kilowatts of electricity running up her spine. So she did the next best thing: try to find shelter. The cave just happened to be the first thing she found.

And it just so happened that the cave already had an occupant.

He was blond. Strange as it was, that was the first thing that had come to her mind. It wasn't because the hair color itself was strange - Yang had the very same color of gold as the...teen? Man? She couldn't tell; his face made it hard to judge age - but because the same yellow strands were set in a ridiculously spiky hairstyle. She hadn't quite seen anything like it...and unconsciously, she wondered what it would be like to run a hand through it. He was dressed in a black get-up: black pants, black and golden trimmed boots and sporting what looked to be a cross between a coat and a duster along with a silver wolf emblem studded over the area where his hear would be. Ruby's eyes flickered to his right arm, examining the white bandages that covered the hand and continued into his sleeve.

A green bag lay beside him, the bag looking like it had seen better days with various tears along the fabric. A small fire burned within the cave along with a pile of dry sticks to be used as fuel for whenever the embers began to fade. The flames danced to a soothing orange aura that bathed part of the caverns in its light, the heat flowing and caressing her face, reminding Ruby just how cold she was and the fact that everything from her cloak to her tighty-whities was currently soaked along with her own drenched self.

The stranger himself glanced at her face, lips setting into a thin grimace before flickering to Crescent Rose, the high caliber sniper scythe strapped to her hip catching the flame's light with a wicked glint before he turned his eyes back to meet her gaze. Blue eyes, Ruby noted. Blue and very disinterested, as if he was looking at a bug that just happened to float up in front of him. Their stare down lasted only for a few moments before the stranger averted his gaze from the dark haired girl's curious orbs, turning back to the fire and poking it with a stick. Ruby followed his motions mechanically, uncertain if that was an invitation to join and unsure of what to do.

"You might as well sit down if you're gonna stay," He said, not even turning his gaze back to her, "I won't bite. Just stop staring at me, will ya?"

"O-oh!" She squeaked, "Uh...sorry."

The girl approached, naivete making her forget that the blond was currently an unknown. The heat of the fire warmed her in its embrace, the young huntress in training sighing in relief for the much welcomed rise in temperature. She took off her drenched cloak and laid it beside her, leaving her in the red and black dress she favored as she sat down from across the stranger. He didn't glance at her as he abandoned his stick into the fire and continued to stare at the embers that rose from the incandescence of the sparks, watching as orange and crimson danced within the flame.

Lightning flashed again, the accompanying thunder rattling into the cave where they had taken shelter. The rain intensified, showing no sign of stopping anytime soon. Ruby grimaced, thoughts wandering to her uncle and wondering just how much trouble she would be in when she got back to Signal. She pulled her knees to her chest, sighing in part annoyance and part resignation that she wouldn't be sleeping in her warm bed tonight. Ruby's gaze was suddenly blocked out, the girl fumbling as she felt something cover up her head and torso. She yelped out in surprise, pulling at the cloth over her heads and yanking free...a towel?

"You look like you need it." The words from the stranger were sudden, Ruby snapping her gaze to him with surprised features. He certainly didn't look the caring type...but she wasn't one to look a gift horse in the mouth.

"Thanks, mister." Ruby smiled widely. The blond stranger's gaze flickered to her, eyeing the Signal student with another apathetic gaze before grunting in acknowledgement at her gratitude. He grabbed the small bag he had been using as an arm rest and tossed it to her, the young girl catching the green rucksack and eyeing it owlishly. Ruby turned back to the stranger with a questioning gaze, the unasked question of 'what's in it?' echoing in her eyes. The blond turned back to their heat source, poking the fire with another stick, "There's food in there. Help yourself if you want anything."

A great beast roared in anger at the thought of prey. The cavern shook and the stranger looked up in alarm, frightened and startled by the bellow that seemed to silence even the skies and cease the earth.

_Gro~wl_

Ruby blushed, patting her stomach and cursing her own absence within her meal periods. She looked down, unwilling to meet the incredulous expression of the young man in front of her and began to root around his bag, trying to find something to quench her belly's anger.

**XxXxX**

It was stupid of him, he begrudgingly admitted, to let himself stay in the cave with the girl. It was a violation of the rules - the very same rules that had kept his existence a secret for gods - or God, maybe. He had too many unpleasant experiences with either to distinguish one from the other - knows how long. He should have made her leave or at the very least, he should have left and let her have the cave to herself. The storm would have inconvenienced him but he wouldn't have gotten sick from anything short of the strongest poisons in existence; getting caught rain would've just given him a cold shower and nothing more. But he was tired from his trek and quite frankly, he didn't want to go out and get wet again. Just because he was able to shrug off colds and illness didn't mean he liked the idea of getting soaked to the brim.

Wolf sighed, running a hand through his hair and leaning back on the cold stone wall, ignoring the uncomfortable pricks in various areas of his spine and skull as he resigned himself to his chosen outcome. There was no use nitpicking about it now. Both of them were there, both of them couldn't or wouldn't leave. It would favor his sanity if he would just let this go and hope that she would at least refrain from disturbing his sleep. Blue eyes flickered to the co-inhabitant of the cave, watching as the young girl shyly nibbled at a pack of cookies she had found in his bag. She almost looked like a puppy...

Memories came to the forefront of his mind, a small pink haired girl pouting at him as if displeased at whatever stupid thing he had done now. The image overlapped with the dark haired child's visage for a few moments before he looked away, the grimace on his lips tightening as he pushed the ghosts back down.

"Are you alright?" The girl inquired at the sudden prominence of his frown.

"Fine," He muttered back, "It's nothing."

The child's face dropped to a confused expression, silver eyes staring at him with a hint of worry and not entirely sure if he was telling the truth. Wolf turned to stare at her with his own disinterested gaze but the child's shyness seemed to have left the building, considering she met his gaze evenly. The stares lasted for seconds before Wolf looked away, turning his eyes back to the fire burning in front of him.

"Ruby."

The blond frowned, moving his gaze back to her as the rain seemed to almost fade into the background, "Huh?"

"It's my name," Ruby said, "Ruby Rose."

She extended her hand to him, the small pale appendage hovering a foot over their campfire as she leaned in. Wolf eyed the small hand, calloused but still so young, for what seemed like hours but in reality was only a few seconds. The blond raised his right arm, clasping the smaller limb in his own bandaged fingers with a gentle shake as if afraid that he would accidentally break it. Formal greetings done, he receded back to his side of the cave without his own introduction.

"You're not gonna tell me your name?" Ruby asked.

"You don't need to know."

"Why?"

"Because there's no reason for you to know."

"Well, can't you just tell me?"

"Don't feel like it."

A pout. It was adorable but Wolf had been hit by plenty of adorable pouts before. He could weather through this...but that didn't mean he had to look directly at the quivering lips and drooping eyebrows. Ruby kept her gaze steadily on the stranger even as he averted his own, trying to stare the answer out of him.

"It's Wolf." Or not. Damn you, puppy dog eyes. Damn you and your adorable power to enslave any sentient being that held even a twisted version of a moral compass straight to hell.

Ruby's pout morphed into a confounded look, "Wolf?"

The blond grunted in confirmation. The young child seemed skeptical.

"What's with that look?"

"I...just didn't..." Ruby tilted her head to the side, "I didn't expect it to be 'Wolf'."

The black garbed blond sighed, scratching at his scalp in exasperation, "Why does everybody I meet say that?"

Ruby brought up a hand as if to hide her giggle. Silver eyes closed and lips widened as the girl smiled beatifically at her companion, "It's nice to meet you, Mr. Wolf."

**A Week Later...**

"Why am I here again?" Wolf inquired in a mutter as he leaned on the trunk of a tree, eyeing the skies through a canopy of leaves as Ruby rooted through the various flora growing beside its roots.

"Because you're helping me gather some materials I need." The girl vapidly replied as she examined the picture of a mushroom in her book and of the one in front of her, "This looks right..."

"Right...and why do I need to help you with your homework?" Wolf looked over her shoulder, staring at the purple mushroom in the girl's hand and then to the mushroom in the book, "And no. Unless the one you're planning to treat wants to commit suicide so that the terrors of -" Here, he smirked, " - indigestion can no longer prolong his agonizing time on the planet, that mushroom isn't the kind you should use for intestinal problems."

Ruby flushed red, tossing the mushroom away, "You know a lot about plants and I'm kinda hopeless with 'em. So I thought, "Hey! Wolf's great with plants. Maybe he could help me!'"

"I know basics. Your book probably covers everything I know and then some," All he knew was what kind of herb was edible or what kind of plant could be ground into medicine - things anyone who spent as much as a fraction of the time on the road as he did would know, "Really, you can't be that bad with plants." He paused, "Can you?"

Ruby looked thoughtful for a moment, "Well, there was this one time I had this cactus as a pet plant...and...well...it kinda died."

"How did it die?"

"...Dehydration."

...

...

...

...

"...I didn't mean to, really," Ruby weakly defended, "I mean...I meant to water it...but then something always came up...and the next thing I knew, it was this shriveled little twig...and...uh..."

"...Right, so what else do you need?" Wolf asked, concluding that his morals demanded that he keep the girl from accidentally poisoning someone. He walked off, Ruby hastily grabbing the wicker basket she had brought along to store the ingredients in, shoving her book inside and then running after him.

She came out of her jog beside him, slowing down as she held her hands behind her back, "You know, I never did ask but what are you doing here?"

"Helping you with your homework, remember?"

"That's not what I meant," She pouted, "I mean I've been visiting you for the past week and all you seem to do is stay in that cave of yours. Don't you have a house?" Considering the blond's impeccably clean outfit, the fact that he always seemed to have food and that he really didn't smell of anything other than a strange scent of incense, either Wolf was one of the most well-off hobos in existence or he really liked the outdoors. From what little she knew of him, it might have been a mixture of the two.

Alas, Wolf shook his head, "No, not really."

"You're homeless?"

"It depends...on what you mean by 'home', Ruby."

She frowned. It was only for a second, so short that Ruby was almost ready to give it off as a trick of her eyes, but for a moment, the normally apathetic features of the blond twisted into a bitter smile.

**XxXxX**

Wolf was a strange person. He was silent but seemed to say so much in little ways - a grunt, a stare and other small actions were his usual responses to her yet she found herself never questioning what they could have meant. Strangely enough, he was someone who, in a few ways, reminded her of Uncle Qrow. There was something about both of them, something...tired and exhausted. But her uncle always had a spark of determination behind his weary eyes, burning without fail and urging him forward to meet another day with the same will. In comparison to him, Wolf felt...empty. No, not exactly empty. It was more like he was fractured, cracked...

Twisted.

Twisted in the sense that he was broken; that he was existing solely for the sake of existing. There was no fire behind his eyes, no drive, no will. Just...regret and resignation. He scared her, or at least, a small part of her was terrified of the young man. It was his eyes; ice blue eyes, uncaring, unflinching and most of all, numb and unfeeling.

She didn't like those eyes.

"Wolf?"

The blond didn't answer, keeping his eyes on the night sky. A cold breeze blew past them, the night's fall having turned the autumn wind into a near winter gust. Ruby ignored the cold pricks on her skin, keeping her gaze on the stars visible from the small clearing they had taken a leisure rest in before they would separate. The child grimaced, tightening a hand around the wicker basket set in her hands and another around her red cloak.

"Are we friends?"

Wolf turned to her, blue eyes meeting cobalt in a half-hearted glare, "...You don't want my friendship, Ruby. Believe me..."

"Why?"

He averted his gaze. Ruby waited, but Wolf made no sign that he would say anything further on the matter. The girl looked down at the dirt she sat on, unconsciously curling her cloak around her in hopes of blocking the wind's freezing touch.

"You remind me...of someone."

Ruby turned back to the blond, "Really? Who?"

The young man turned his stare back up, gazing at the broken fragments of the moon. His gaze turned wistful...melancholic and troubled. Ruby thought it looked too old for him.

"...Someone from my life...from a long time ago," He closed his eyes as if remembering, "You act a lot like her. I'm not sure whether that's good or bad."

"What was she like?"

A pause. Wolf always paused, perhaps because he tried to think his words through...or, Ruby thought, perhaps he just couldn't bring himself to trust her. She couldn't continue to contemplate as Wolf once again spoke in a near whisper, "...She was a complete klutz."

"Oh..." Ruby said, simply. Her mind clicked, realizing that Wolf had indirectly called her clumsy and her left over childishness kicking in, "H-hey, wait a minute! You just called me a klutz!"

She pouted, looking as indignant as she could while Wolf stared back at her. The blond's eyes widened, so slightly that Ruby nearly missed it in the night's shadows, before slowly, his lips spread thinner and the corners angled slightly upwards. Ruby blinked, gazing at Wolf's amused features with a sense of...surprise. He had a nice smile, she noted. It wasn't a full blown grin, it wasn't anywhere near as wide and carefree as Yang's or even her own. His smirks had always been devilish and cynical, something she didn't truly consider as a 'smile'. This one, this simper was gentle, fragile as if the act might bring some sort of pain to him, yet he looked more at peace than she had ever seen him before in that short moment.

Then he chuckled. A slow, deep rumble from his throat that seemed almost too soft-spoken to be called a true chuckle. It didn't matter to her. That was the first time she had heard him make any sign of happiness, even if it was something as insignificant as that. Ruby found herself smiling back.

"Your friend..."

He turned away, but the smile still danced on his lips, "Hm?"

"What was her name?"

"...It was Kanon."

**Was**

Ruby caught the word, her smile faltering in revelation to the unspoken truth of this Kanon's passing. The smile had disappeared off Wolf's lips now, the young man's features dropping back into a pained facade of apathy.

He was hurting, Ruby grimaced as she confirmed this in her reality. He hid it well behind the persona that acted as if he simply thought of people as a nuisance but there was no way to hide it, not whenever he remembered the memories he had associated with whoever 'Kanon' was. There was a darkness about him that made Ruby pity him, though she had a feeling that he would've spited her and asked her to keep the pity to herself; Wolf was someone who held others at arm's length, after all. So Ruby had kept silent, afraid of opening the scars of the blond and yet, at the same time, knowing that he was nearing the edge of a very steep cliff without anyone to catch him.

Uncle Qrow had told her stories of men and women who had gone insane when confronted with the burden of such responsibility, of people who had clawed and struggled to protect the ones they cherished only to lose their path and fall into corruption, forgetting the reason why they had craved for strength and seeking only power because that was now all they could remember ever doing. Had Wolf become one of those strays? Could he have hurt his friends? Was that why he had always looked so tired?

Even more...what could it have done to him?

"Wolf?"

He remained silent but the miniscule turn of his head to Ruby's direction allowed her to know that he was waiting for her words. She stared at him back at him, holding out a hand slowly as if she might scare him.

"We're friends...aren't we?"

He was surprised, eyes widening and lips parting slightly as he gazed at her hand, extended to him in a manner reminiscent of the first time they had met. His blue eyes flashed with turmoil - confusion, sorrow and...longing all mixing into the golden glow around his iris. And for the first time, Ruby saw it.

Fear.

He was afraid. Wolf was afraid of her...no, it was more accurate to say he was afraid of what could happen if he took her hand. She didn't know what happened to him but pain and fear was something she had plenty of experience on. But for whatever fear and pain she had felt, she had others that helped her through it: Yang, Uncle Qrow and the friends she had found within Signal. But Wolf...who did he have?

He couldn't continue like this. It might not happen today, tomorrow or the next year, but there was only so much someone could take before they went from broken to monstrous - to something that grew so bitter at the world that hate seemed to govern every action. Wolf lacked the bonds that would stop him, that would keep him from being lost. He was alone, truly alone...and she knew that solitude could become the worst sort of torture one could experience. So without giving him time to refuse her, she reached further, grabbing his left hand - the one lacking a bandage - and gripped it firmly within her smaller fingers. Wolf flinched at the contact, stiffening and eyes dilating, turning so wild that Ruby almost thought he would attack her. She held steady, face set in a determined gaze as she locked eyes with the young man.

"I'm your friend." She said, not as a question but as a simple statement of fact. Wolf didn't say anything, watching as Ruby stood up. The girl looked up at him, the top of her head barely coming to level with his chin. She held his hand - warm...so warm - and smiled gently.

Wolf remained silent...but for a moment, his eyes regained a warmth, ice blue turning back into accepting sky as his hand curled protectively around Ruby's own.

**XxXxX**

**Yeah...another story. Fuck my imagination...**

**So! Moving on to other more important things. This is a crossover between RWBY, an animated show done by Rooster Teeth and directed by Monty Oum and God(s) Eater, a game by Shift (I own neither).**

**Quite frankly, I love Ruby as a character, simply because she was someone who held a naive personality while at the same time also being surprisingly aware of matters that most adults would have trouble with. I thought of her as somebody who wasn't ignorant of life's little dark corners but at the same time, knew that there was more to it than just fighting and sorrow, oftentimes cheering others on and letting me think of her as someone who would help others without a doubt.**

**Plus, she's adorable. Don't judge me, you know you were thinking it as well. DON'T LIE TO ME!**

**Ahem...anyway, as to why I bothered to include God Eater...well, that was because I've been reading various works of Kenchi618 and took a liking to a certain element in some of his stories. I won't give it away (though half of you probably know what is by now) but just keep it in mind that too little of the RWBY-verse has been revealed for me to let such a drastic plot point be based on fan speculation. As such, I needed to add elements and I just so happened to think, 'Hey, I might as well use elements from my favorite game.'**

**So here we are. A cross over...**

**Don't kill me...please? Or at the very least, review and kill me - in whichever order you prefer. I just hope the afterlife has Wi-Fi...**

**PS: This story will probably take a backseat to 'A Sinful Messiah' and 'Reflections' as they are the ones I want to focus on the most. Forgive me but I only posted this now to get rid of the infernal nagging in the back of my head so as to alleviate the throbbing ideas that have actually given me headaches on several occasions. Rest assured, I will probably continue this though the updates will be...uncommon...well, more than usual, anyway.**


End file.
